Performance Filming 2

So eventually we finished filming, changing the location to Canbury Gardens, which was the prefect location as it was a lot prettier and looked a lot better for that type of footage we wanted. We used Grace's SLR to film the footage as there are still no cameras this gave us really great quality footage, even though it means it is going to take longer to upload because the files are larger. Last time we tried to film one of the issues that the group faced was that the main character didn't know the lyrics to the song which was fine but it meant that he had to read it form a sheet which meant that he didn't have eye contact with the camera, so the next time we filmed we gave him enough time to learn the lyrics. The other issue we had was that we didn't have a tripod or a dolly to film the tracking shots and because this was the central part of the footage we had to use it handheld which does meant that we have the risk of the footage being a bit shaky, however this potentially could be a look that would fit with the storyline. To sum up mine and the whole groups feelings of today is that we are all very pleased and that it went really well, although it took although it took a lot of planning, it showed that the worked well as a group and we are hoping that the planning and effort that we put in pays off and the footage is great! 

Performance filming 1

After an unfortunate illness & the robbery we have finally got round to starting our performance filming! In freezing conditions we ventured our onto a common to attempt to shoot our protagonist (Bing) & create the lyrics performance of 'If ya wanna'. It was starting to grate on us all that this hadn't been completed yet, we knew that we had to have around a 60/40 or 50/50 breakdown of the narrative & performance and thus our lack of the latter was worrying! However when we began filming we realised that though the other productions had taken weeks of extensive planning & preparation & costume sourcing as supposed to this relatively gentle shoot with little pre-prep in relation to mis en scene & costume, we did however have to intimately work with our one actor more than with the masses on other shoots. We did several forward tracking shots ( mainly using close up as this length of shot was one which we had neglected in our other shoots and we desperately needed more of, in order for our audience to buy in our band -'Suburban Typo' and connect to our artist -'Bing'), of Bing singing along to the lyrics, although his lack of confidence in knowing the words really made our jobs a lot harder. We held up the lyrics for him to see, however this really effected his eye contact and this lack of passionate communication really showed up on camera. It was so hard for him to ease up, mainly because of the context - cold field, winter, alone singing, with no warm up. Of course if one was to train him properly for a piece of acting or singing vocal & physical exercises would need to be undergone, however seeing as he was voluntarily helping us out, we felt that coming down to hard on him may intimidate the ability we knew he had. Therefore we all tried to be personally active, sing along to the lyrics, and give positive praise in order to spur on his ego & abilities. We got several shots in this first location, though we knew we would have to reschedule another day (hopefully a warmer one) to film more of the external shots. We then went on to a new location to photograph Bing & shots some of him looking depressed and slobbish surrounded by messy objects and a lack of coherence without our female lead. Overall the shoot was a mixed experience but we have booked friday the 1st of March to continue with our performance filming - giving us more time to look through the footage from today & decide which shots we are missing or need to create a polished finish.

Coombe Gets Burgled

We came into our Media department on the Monday morning to discover that all the newer Apple Macs, cameras, light kits and other equipment had been stolen. This was a huge blow for us and to our coursework as our Final Cut project files were scratched to the Macs' internal memory, meaning that the majority of our edited video had been lost. We were lucky in the fact that a few hard drives were left behind, one of which contained some old back ups of our coursework and therefore we were able to get some of the project back.
However, the computers we were left with were less than adequate as they were extremely slow and old. We also had to borrow more Macs from the music department, but naturally there were problems connecting them to Media's complicated servers and getting them to run smoothly.
While waiting for the new Macs to arrive, we are deciding to try and focus on our individual ancillary products while our teachers decide what to do about our projects. It is very likely that once the new Macs arrive, they will be installed with newer software and this will be difficult for us as it is probably going to be incompatible with out project files. If this does happen, we will have to edit on the slower Macs and this will severely hinder the amount of time it takes us to complete our coursework.

Filming and Editing Process

This is a video including picture form all of the shoots so far (1st version as trying to figure out how to make the images less blurry)

Filming - RESHOOTS

Today we completed one of our pick ups, filming a new ending to the 1980's shoot in order to make the transition coherent. The shoot went extremely smoothly, we had to work around the other clients in our location, but used the space & slot efficiently and had the shot completed in just over the time we had estimated. Only needing our lead female (Rhianna) for this shoot, meant prepping it was extremely simple; we could only really use our lead as we knew that wouldn't be able to hall the large cast we originally used back in order to help visually aid the ending. However we worked around the resources & cast we had, and were meticulous about continuity throughout hair&makeup, and the shooting, as exams had taken place in this venue since our previous shoot and thus there were writing desks littering the space, and other students using it for dance or drama purposes. We made sure we ascertained both Medium, Long, Extreme Long, Close up and Extreme close up shots for the two segments of this shoot, and experimented widely with angels in order to completely cover our backs & allow us maximum creativity & scope when it came to the transition into the 1970's protest scene.  

Filming&Editing

Filming and editing updates

18-01-13
There is a slight delay at the moment involving filming the last couple of eras and the performance. This is due to the exam process that all of the members of our group are currently in the middle of. This has resulted in a pause in the filming process. This made it very difficult to get everyone in the group together, and also the cast members as they are also in exams. Even though this is a set back, there is nothing that is going to stop us getting back into the filming process very quickly, not letting this have an effect on the film being finished for the date that has been set.

28-01-13
We had scheduled our performance for this Monday, but unfortunately it had to be cancelled. When getting in contact with Connor (our lead singer), we found out that he had come down with an illness and had to miss one of his A level exams due to this. Obviously, this has put a spanner in the works for us as the deadline is constantly getting nearer and we need to get our filming done. Also, because we've filmed and edited our beginning montage, which was complicated to edit, we need to use the same person to make our concept work and avoid having to change it at all costs. We hope he gets better soon!